Device for removing and replacing piston rings



H. w. KULP 2,195,216 v DEVICE FOR REMOVING AND REPLACING PISTON RINGS March 26, 1940.

Filed Dec. 17, 1937 Patented Mar. 26,1940

DEVICE-FOR REMOVING AND REPLACING PISTON-RINGS Harry W. Kulp, Lancaster, Pa., assignor to K-D Manufacturing Company, a corporation, of

Pennsylvania 7 Application December 17, 1937, Serial No. 180,438v

' 7 Claims. (01.29-46. 1)

My invention relates to a device for removing I and replacing piston rings.

The objects of my invention are, to provide a tool having end aligning. clamping means for the piston ring and independently operable expanding means permanently-associated with said clamping. means, said end clamping means holding the ring in such a position that it maybe positively engaged and expanded by said expanding means; to provide said tool with end aligning clamping means which, after initially engaging the piston ring, remains motionless and permits the ends of thering to slide, apart therethrough during the expanding operation and at the same time holds said ends in alignment in a common plane; to provide, in connection with each end aligning clamp, a common means for maintaining the oppositely disposed members thereof in registering relation and positioning the piston'ring in proper operative relation to the expanding means; and to provide a verysimple efiicient tool of the above nature which durable in operation, is economical 'to manufacture, and may be composed of sheet metal parts stamping operations.

In this application I show and describe only the preferred embodiment of my invention simply by way of illustration of the practice of my invention as by law required. However, I realize that my invention is capable of other and difierent embodiments and thatvthe details thereof may be modified in various ways, all without departing from my said invention. Therefore the drawing and description herein are to be considered merely as illustrative and not asexclusive. I In the accompanying drawingi Figure 1 represents a top plan of my improved as applied to-a piston ring, the expanding neans being in inoperative position;

Figure 2, a side elevation; Figure 3, a front elevation; Figure 4, 'asection' on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 coking in the directio of the arrows, the top rlate 2 being omitted; ,v a

Figure 5, a top plan of the toolshowing. the

xpanding means in operation on a. piston'ring,

tie-upper plate 2 of the tool being removed and he connectingspring 3 and guide posts 5 being hownin section; and

Figure 6, a section on the line'6-,6 of'Figure lookinginthe direction of the arrows.

Thetool of the present invention comprises piston ring :end'aligningclamp. and independis strong and ently operable expanding means-permanently associated with said clamp.

The end aligning clamp comprises a preferably heavy sheet metal lower or base plate'or member I, which for'the purposes of this description, '5 shall be considered to be immovable, a preferably heavy'sheet metal plate or upper member Z-disposed in vertical registering relation to plate I and which, for the purposes of this description, shall be considered to berelatively movable with. respect to said plate I, and any'suitable means, such as a spring3, resiliently connecting said plate 2 to said plate I, and urging one edge of said plate 2 towards the opposed registering edge of said plate l. I v v 16 A pair of spaced horizontally aligned, preferably upwardly ofiset jaw members, each said member 4- preferablyhaving a vertical guide post 5 rigidly attached tothe upper face thereof, projects from the forward edge of plate I, the rear;, portion of said plate I tapering back to form a handle 6 which preferably has a hole 6? formed therein to facilitate gripping the same or hanging the same on a hook etc. Preferably an arouand manufactured by Well known sheet metal ate slot I6 is formed inthe'medial portion of: 2 said plate I.

A pair of spaced horizontally aligned, preferably down'wardly-olfset jaw members 4', each of said members having a hole 5 formed therein to receive the respective guide posts 5 of members 4 for vertical'movement thereon project from the forward edge of plate 2 in vertical registry with the opposed members 4 of plate I, the rear por tion of said plate 2 tapering back to form a handle 6' preferably having a'hole 6 formed therein,.

said handle being disposed substantially in vertical registry with the corresponding handle 6 of the lower plate I.

' Any suitablemeans may beused totconnect plate 2 in vertical registry-to'plate I, in such a, o

manner that the jaw members .4 of said plate 2 are resiliently urged downward toward the respective opposing members 4 of plateII but may be separated therefrom to permit the end portions of a piston ring A to be inserted therebetvveen. 4.5

' In the embodiment shown, a preferably W-- shaped spring 3, of flatcross-sectional material,

has one end connected to each plate l and 2 by any suitable means, such as rivets I, to perform the above described functions; "The use-of such a. W-shaped spring 3 permits the jaw members- 4' to be movedtup ward with respect to their respective opposing members 4 by downward pressure on the handle 6' of plate 2.

Preferably; in the assembled-relation'of platesifl passing through holes in the upper jaw members 4, which are adapted to move vertically on,

and be held in vertical registry by, said guide posts 5.

The expanding means may consist of any in dependently operable means permanently associated with one of the plates 1 or 2 which may be adapted to spread apart the ends of a piston ring engaged by the members 4 and 4 of the piston ring end aligning clamp.

Preferably the expanding means comprises a pair of opposed non-crossing preferably channeled members 8 and 8 preferably of U-shape in cross-section; Each of said members 8 and 8' preferably is medially pivoted to plate 2 by suitable means such as pivot pins l2. Portions of each of said members 8 and 8 extend rearwardly from said pivot pins 92 to form handles 1 I, while shank portions 9 extend forwardly from said pivot pins !2, each said shank portion 9 having a preferably integral vertically disposed fiat expanderjaw member Iii mounted on the forward end thereof. i

The oppositely disposed expander jaw members H] are preferably held together in inoperative position by some resilient means, suchas a coil spring l3 having its ends connected to oppositely disposed portions of the respective shank portions 9.

Preferably the members 8 and 8 are provided on their lower sides with laterally inwardly extending lugs M and It respectively which project towards each other and overlap at their tips, a common vertical guide pin is is snugly fitted into a hole in the tip of lug hi and extends through guide slots l6 and ll of plate 2 and lug M respectively, the sides of each said slot l6 and ll slidably contacting, and acting as guides for, said pin l5. Preferably the ends of pivot pin i5 are riveted over.

It is to be noted that slot i5 is in the form of an archaving at its center of curvature the pivot pin l2 of member 3, said slot it together with slot ll serving at all times to maintain the expander jaw members is equidistant from, and on opposite sides, of the longitudinal .center line of plate I, preventing any angular movement be tween plate i and the expanding means as a whole.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention the expanding means is preferably disposed between the lower and upper plates 1 and 2, being preferably permanently attached to the upper face of plate i with the expander jaw, members Iii projecting to the front of said plates 5 and 2 and having their centers substantially in horizontal alignment with jaw members and *3 of the end aligning clamps, said members iii extending in .a vertical direction for a substantial distance aboveand below the planes of the respective upper and lower faces of a piston ring A engaged by members 4 and lto insure a positiveengaga ment of the abutting ends of said piston ring A by said members it regardless of the shape of said,

. piston ring ends.

It is to be noted that the forward edges of plates l and 2 are curved inwardly to afford the opercomprising a pair said end portion rests against, and is positioned by, one of the guide postsEs, as in Figure 1 of the 1 drawing. Upon releasing the handle 6 the jaw members t and l' resiliently engage the end portions of ring A and hold them in aligned position. The jaws ii! are then caused to engage and expand or spread apart the ends of the ring A by means of pressure applied to their handles H, as in Figure '5, thereby causing the ring ends to spread laterally outward through the jaw members E and 4' and against the posts 5 while being held by the same in proper operative position with respect to the expander jaws ii). When surficiently expanded, the ring A maybe applied by slipping it over the piston and allowing it to contract inits groove. Similarly ring A'may be xpanded to remove the same. i

The construction of the clamp jaws d and A whereby they do not'project beyond'the inner cir cumference of the piston ring permits them to clear the piston when the ring is to be removed from or applied to the same.

I claim:

l. A piston ring removing and applying tool comprising a pair; of opposed registering sheet metal plates, each said plate having a pair of forwardly projecting spaced aligned jaw members and a rearwardly extending handle portion said jaw members of eachsaid plate being oilsei towards the respective opposed members of the other plate, a pair of vertical guide posts rigidly attached to the respective jaw members of one plate and passing through holesformed in thl respective opposed members of the other plate and means serving to connect said plates an resiliently urge the respective opposed jaw mem bers thereof towards each other, in combinatioi with expanding means disposed between sai plates, said expanding means comprising a pai of opposed, non-crossing levers respectively piv oted at their medial'portions to one of said-plate; each said lever having a handle extending rear wardly from its medial portion and a shank e) gether, and a pairof lateraiiy inwardly extendir overlapping lugs respectively I mounted on tl lower side of each said lever, a common vertic guide pin rigidly attached to one of said lugs a1 extending through guide slots inthe other of se lugs and one of said plates respectively to preve angular movement betweensaid lower .late a: said expanding means;

2. A piston ring removing and applying t( of opposed registering she metal plates, each said plate having a pair of it wardly projecting spaced aligned jaw membl and a rearwardly extending handle portion; s2 jaw members of each said plate being offset 1 wards the respective opposed members of 1 other plate, a pair of vertical guide posts rigi attached to the respective jaw members of plate and passing through holes formed in respective opposed members of the other. p12 and means serving to connect said plates and siliently urge the respective opposed jaw memb thereof towards each other, in combination with expanding means comprising a pair of opposed non-crossing levers resiliently pivoted at their medial portions to one ofsaid plates, each said lever having a handle extending rearwardly from its medial portion and a shank extending for- J lugs and the lower plate respectively.

3. A piston'ring removing and applying tool comprising a pair of opposed registeringqrigid plates, each "said platehaving a pair of forwardly projecting spaced aligned jaw members and a rearwardly extending handle portion, a pair of vertical guide posts rigidly attached to the respec-- tive jaw members of onepplate and passing through holesformed in the respective opposed members of the other plate, and means serving to connect said plates and resiliently urge the respective opposed jaw members thereof towards each other, in combination with expandingmeans comprising a pair of opposed levers respectively pivoted at their medial portions to one of said plates, each said lever having a handle extending rearwardly from its medial portion and a shank extending forwardly from said portion, an. expander jaw mounted at the forward end of each shank, and means for preventing relative angular movement between said plates and said expanding means. 4. A piston ring removing and applying tool comprising a pair of opposed registering rigid' plates, a pair of aligned jaw members projecting from each said plate in registry with the respective opposed jaw members of the other plate, and means resiliently urging the respective opposed jaw members of said plates towards each' other, in combination with independentlyyoperable expanding means mounted on one of said plates, said means comprising a pair of jaws in alignment with said aligned jaw members; and

5. A piston ring removing and applying tool comprising a clamping means consisting of a pair of opposed rigid plates, a pair of aligned jaw members projecting from each said plate'in substantial registry with the respective jaw members means for moving oneof said jaws away from the other.

of theother plate, and means resiliently urging the respective opposed jaw members of said plates 15 towards each other, in combination with independent operable expanding means permanently associated with said clamping means.

6. A piston ring removing and applying'tool comprising two sheet metal plates rockablycon-pnected to form a clamp having two pairs of spaced aligned jaws, apart between said pairs of jaws to form an apersaid plates being-spaced ture, and a plier type expander having its jaws.

projecting through-the. aperture between said plates for relative movement in a plane at right angles-to the movement of said clamping jaws.

I. A piston ring removingand applying tool 1 comprising a pair of members connected in reg- {istering relationship for relative rockingfmovement, and having clamping portionscarriedby said respective members to be moved toward and away from each other during, rocking movement of said members, in combinationwith independ ently operable expanding, means mounted on'one of said members, said means projecting between said opposed clamping portions and being disposed for movement in a direction'at right angles to the direction of rocking movement of said members to engage and spread the ends: of a piston ringheld between said clamping portions. 2 -HARRYW-.,K L 

